Stay Connected!

Think about of all the screens and devices that are present today!! (phone screen, text screen, e-mail screen, twitter screen, and more) Be careful that modern day tools meant to add time and people to life could actually disconnect people from true face to face connections and relationships that help lead people to the Lord!(we were made by God for relationship!)!

God's Word is full of much wisdom that we need to keep applying to life and sharing with those that are vulnerable to being disconnected!

As we share Jesus with others, one of the joys is connecting face to face as God plants & waters seeds of good news heart to heart!

Let's be wise and look for opportunities to stay Connected Face to Face & Heart to Heart!!!

A. Stay Connected to God through Prayer - Talking To Him
B. Stay Connected to God through Reading His Word - Growing In Him
C. Stay Connected with People, Especially Face to Face - Sharing Him

‎1 Corinthians 16:13
"Be alert and on your guard; stand firm in your faith (your conviction respecting man's relationship to God and divine things, keeping the trust and holy fervor born of faith and a part of it). Act like men/women and be courageous; grow in strength!" Amplified Bible

Exodus 33:14a "The Lord replied, 'I will personally go with you Moses..."

New Thanksgiving Tree!

John 15:5-8 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."


As we all prepare to gather together with our families this Thanksgiving, I Thank God for A Family Tree that is filling up with Branches of Believers....because God is Faithful!!

I wonder if you can relate to my life in Christ in anyway? You see, when I became a First-Generation Follower of Christ = A Christian, I began my walk with the Lord all by myself. But, God Is Faithful, and it wasn't long before He began to Bless my life with A New Family Tree! A tree that began to fill up with His Branches of Believers! 4 months after I became a Christian, my loving husband became a Christian (and it was the week before Thanksgiving when he gave his life to Christ, this is one of the blessings I thank God for, A Christian Husband that loves Him and loves me!)! It was amazing how God changed every relationship in our lives. As we began to learn how to share Jesus with others as His Witness, our family tree began to grow in so many ways! Did it happen quickly and overnight, NO it did not for us, as we also learned how to "wait upon the Lord & pray without ceasing"! But because of God's Faithfulness, He still keeps enlarging our new family tree! Our children have all become Christians and love God and we look forward to the next generation of believers that God Promises to reach as we strive to live for Him and share Him until Jesus returns or we go to live with Him in heaven forever!!

Below is a short picture of one of God's youngest witnesses, Josiah!!! He is one of my favorite role models in the Bible and I pray that his life will encourage you that God will grow His Family Tree through YOU, no matter what age you are and no matter what kind of family tree you were born into...God's Word says it best in Jeremiah 29:11-13; "For I know the plans I have for you,' "declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you HOPE and a FUTURE. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart."!!


Some of Josiah’s Family Tree

 Great-Great-Great Grandpa – King David 1 Kings 11:4, 1 Kings 14:8, Acts 13:22 (“…I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.”

 Great-Great-Grandpa – King Ahaz “DID NOT do what was right in the eyes of the Lord” 2 Kings 16:2

 Great-Grandpa - King Hezekiah: “Did what was right in the eyes of the Lord” 2 Kings 18:5-7

 Grandpa - King Manasseh: “Did what was EVIL in the eyes of the Lord” 2 Kings 21:2

 Dad – King Amon: “Did what was EVIL in the eyes of the Lord” 2 Kings 21:20


 King Josiah!: “Did what was RIGHT in the eyes of the Lord” 2 Kings 22:2


Meet Josiah: “he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord”
• God called Josiah when he was 8 years old...in Josiah’s day boys were considered men when they were 12 years old
• Josiah obeyed God 8-39 (killed at 39 by Neco, an evil king of Egypt), for 31 years Josiah obeyed God whole-heartedly (2 Chron.34:1)
• Josiah searched after God and had an open heart to God
• Josiah was a difference maker like his great-grandpa Hezekiah!
• Josiah cleaned out the temple of ungodliness and revived the atmosphere to following God’s Ways
• Josiah’s weakness and mistake that led to his death was to get involved in a battle that he had been warned against getting involved in (let God fight your battles!)
• Josiah made a difference for God because “he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord”!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_MyC6kJzPg&feature=related (Unfailing Love - Chris Tomlin)

With God All Things Are Possible!

"But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Matthew 19:26 (HCSB)

Please meet one of our family praying friends, Brian. You can see him in the picture we see to the left having a great time last week in the East Texas SNOW. We had about 6-8 inches of snow last week in East Texas and Brian was outside in the snow making "donuts in his wheelchair"! This has got to be my favorite picture that I have seen of all the fun and excitement everyone enjoyed during this unusual SNOW DAY in East Texas! Brian not only is a picture of God's Amazing Power, but he also shares The Lord wherever he can as an inspirational motivational speaker. Brian has a very special testimony that you can watch some of it below on the u-tube that I have pasted as an inspiration for all!

Let's think about the people we know right now that need Jesus, what impossible situation are they in right now in their life? One way to share Jesus is to share the things that He has done in our lives, our testimonies, our life-changing experiences that God has done in our lives. There are things in our lives that we can say, "with man this is impossible, but with GOD all things are possible"! Jaye Martin has referred to these kind of things in our lives as being ready to share our "pearls" with others. "Pearls" can be anything positive or negative that we have experienced and how God has turned those things into His beautiful "pearls" to wear and share with others. For example, share a time that you experienced an unexpected blessing, gift, intervention, how God helped us when we were discouraged, depressed, or grieving. Both positive and negative "pearls" can help build a bridge to people that need the Lord and may be feeling that "no one understands" or "God can't accept me just the way I am".

Challenge: Listen closely to what is going on in the lives of people that we come into contact with and be willing to share an example of how God has helped you with the same kind of experience that they may be walking through right now (share your pearls!) "Taken from HeartCall~Women Sharing God's Heart, Written By Jaye Martin".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zV5rtalFGD0 (Brian Brown Sharing Part of His Testimony)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ys4YgiZ392Y (Mercy Me-God With Us)

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/photo.php?pid=31081978&id=1247060398 (Brian's Snow Pictures!)

an extended family

This picture is some of my extended family beside my parents and I. In our short first meeting, I enjoyed their company and learned from my mom's cousin. I think it is important to remember to love our families by blood as well as our church family. How powerful of a witness of God's love would it be, if we, as believers, acted like a family?

One of my favorite pictures of the church is in Acts. Acts 4:32 (NIV) reads, "All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had." The group in Acts seems to be a family that is ever-present and happy to help.

My professor yesterday inspired me to think... beyond programs or other borders, we can help each other build a church and a family life that encourages a life led out of love for God. In class, we talked about ideas such as high school guys mowing a widow's lawn, a single helping a new student find a grocery store, or a youth pastor e-mailing parents advice on positive music to play.

How can we help others see how to live out of God's love at home and in our church family?

[A special thanks to Dr. Jones and Dr. Stinson for their inspiring thoughts. To read about this, I suggest Deuteronomy 6, Ephesians 4, and Perspectives on Family Ministry: Three Views by Timothy Paul Jones (Editor) (released this October).]

Lord, Make Me Like Mrs. Bowers

"Timothy, my child, I am giving you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies previously made about you, so that by them you may strongly engage in battle, having faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and have suffered the shipwreck of their faith"

1 Tim 1:18-19.

“Her name was Mrs. Bowers and I will never forget her. As a young teen, she sat with my friends and me every Wednesday night at church. She pulled out her Bible and she taught us, she loved on us, prayed for us, and she answered our questions. Every week we would bring friends from school along with our questions about girlfriend issues, boy issues, and life issues. Mrs. Bowers would write down the questions and bring us back the biblical answers the next week. She always acted as if she needed to research and find the answers for us, but looking back on it, I think she knew we’d be back the next week for the answers.”

“Regardless of how old we are, there is always a generation right behind us. We just need to open our eyes to see who they are and train the younger women to be the Godly leaders for their generation and for the next one…The next generation of women leaders will come from the girls we grow up today. In the abnormal culture we live in, we must focus our attention on these incredible young women and give them the tools they need to lead the next generation.”

Women Leading Women, Ch 10, Jaye Martin

Lord, make me just like Mrs. Bowers. Show me those in the next generation that you want me to engage and to pour my life into.